X-Git-Url: https://thelambdalab.xyz/gitweb/index.cgi?p=forth.jl.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.md;h=a6e0645b2a34c19dcd6b0b5fa86dc14107186679;hp=e0c9767e8fe4660c098449ec9b24e900d8a3a15e;hb=43cd7e6d8968a85ee9250033080268caafef5a47;hpb=ae4223943bf7e35ae347623000ec23f096b7baca diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index e0c9767..a6e0645 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -6,15 +6,15 @@ that which it has already fulfilled: forcing me to think quite carefully about how forth works. This package owes a massive debt to the existence of the literate programming -project [JonesForth] (https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/jonesforth-git-repository/), +project [JonesForth](https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/jonesforth-git-repository/), which was an amazing read. To a large degree my package is simply a port of that project from x86 assembly + forth to julia + forth, although the mapping is in a few places non-trivial due to the fact that julia is a high level -language. A huge proportion (say 80%) of the library code in src/lib.4th is -directly copied from JonesForth. (The fact that it was possible to reuse this -code was satisfying in its own right!) I've added some additional core -definitions and modified some of the others with the eventual aim of F83 -compliance (discussed below). +language. During the bootstrapping process, a huge proportion (say 80%) of the +library code in src/lib.4th was directly copied from JonesForth. (The fact +that it was possible to reuse this code was satisfying in its own right!) Since +that time I've added a significant number of core definitions and modified some +of the others with the eventual aim of F83 compliance (discussed below). There's quite a lot to say about the implementation, especially due to its high-level grounding, but that will have to wait for another time. @@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ install it, you will therefore need to use the following command: julia> Pkg.clone("https://github.com/tgvaughan/forth.jl") +Currently, forth.jl **requires** Julia 0.6. (Incompatabilities exist between +0.6 and previous versions of julia, particularly the handling of [world age](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/17057).) + ## Usage To start the interpreter/compiler running, simply enter the following at @@ -41,12 +44,10 @@ the library file. Once this is complete you can start entering forth commands: star * ok There's an example Mandelbrot Set drawing program included in the examples -directory. To run it, use the `INCLUDE` word to open the file and compile its -definitions. Although the exact location of the examples directory in your -filesystem is platform dependent, `INCLUDE` includes the forth.jl src/ directory -in its search path so the following should always work: +directory. To run it, use the `INCLUDE-LIB` word to open the file and compile its +definitions: - include ../examples/mandelbrot.4th + include-lib ../examples/mandelbrot.4th Enter 'mandel' to draw the Mandelbrot Set. ok mandel * @@ -80,27 +81,22 @@ in its search path so the following should always work: ** ok -To exit, enter ^D on a blank line or use the `BYE` word. +(`INCLUDE-LIB` is exactly like INCLUDE, but includes files relative to thte +platform-dependent forth.jl src/ directory.) To exit, enter ^D on a blank line +or use the `BYE` word. ## FORTH-83 Compliance One of my goals has been to have forth.jl contain as much of the [F83 required word set](http://forth.sourceforge.net/standard/fst83/fst83-12.htm) as makes sense given the underlying VM. (Actually, my main goal goes a bit -beyond this: I want to be able to, with a couple of exceptions, be compatible +beyond this: I want to forth.jl to be, with a couple of exceptions, compatible with the description of forth contained in the second edition of Leo Brodie's book "Starting Forth".) I'm fairly happy with my progress so far. Of the -131 required F83 words, only 26 remain unimplemented. These words fall into -three categories: those I intend to implement in the near future, those I may -possibly implement at some point, and those that I do not intend to ever implement -for reasons of obsolescence or incompatibility with the design of the VM. - -### F83 Words to be implemented soon - - PAD ABORT" CMOVE> VOCABULARY DEFINITIONS FORTH - -User-defined vocabularies aren't in there yet but this should be easy to solve. -`PAD`, `ABORT` and `CMOVE>` are simple oversights. +131 required F83 words, only 20 remain unimplemented. These words fall into +two categories: those I may possibly implement at some point, and those that I +do not intend to ever implement for reasons of obsolescence or incompatibility +with the design of the VM. ### F83 Words that may be implemented someday @@ -115,7 +111,7 @@ not been interested in enough yet to get on top of. SAVE-BUFFERS UPDATE BLK HOLD LOAD FORTH-83 These words don't make sense to implement. The double-length integer words are -useless, because the smallest unit of memory in our VM is a full 64 bit +useless because the smallest unit of memory in our VM is a full 64 bit integer. For the same reason, there's no point in dealing with unsigned values just to gain access to another bit. The block I/O words don't make sense because we have access to a filesystem via the OS.